Read an excerpt from Sentenced to Shakespeare by Iris Dorbian

Please welcome back Iris Dorbian and her book Sentenced to Shakespeare. You may have caught an excerpt a few months ago here. I have a new excerpt for you to check out today. And then you can download a copy if you haven't already done so. Follow the tour for even more fun and chat with the author as you do so! And be sure to enter the giveaway!

"Sentenced to Shakespeare" is a contemporary young adult novel set in suburban New Jersey. The story revolves around Leah, a smart and sensitive 15-year-old girl who is pushed too far by a bully and snaps. Arrested for assault and battery, Leah is sentenced to an unusual form of rehabilitation-she must take and complete a Shakespeare workshop or else risk incarceration. Ostracized by her classmates, abandoned by her only friend, Leah finds comfort and solidarity with the other juvenile offenders in this same program, with one offering her something she's never experienced before--love.

Read an excerpt:

With each insult, Leah felt like she was shrinking more into herself until there was nothing left but a shell of a person.

Then, there were the prank phone calls: the stupid breathing, the hang-ups, and the taunting texts, each a deeper stab in the heart.

“Hey, hottie! How many boyfriends do you have?”

“Don’t you vomit when you look at yourself in a mirror?”

“You really are a joke. I’d kill myself if I were you.”

It got to a point where Leah couldn’t cry anymore. Either her tear ducts were worn out from crying so much or she was numb. And, even if she did cry, that would only make Dede and her followers ridicule her even more.

Sometimes, if the weather was permitting, Leah would hide near the local VFW hall rather than go to school, which was within walking distance to her house. It was safe to play truant there as usually, no one was around on the weekdays. Within the bowels of a staircase that’d slope into the subterranean entrance of the building, she’d seek refuge. Her legs splayed out on the concrete, Leah would huddle in the corner, staring at her watch, waiting for each minute to pass into the oblivion of another minute until she knew her parents were out of the house and on their way to work. Then she’d return to the safety of her home, away from Dede and the harassment. Free and happy.

Book links

Sunbury Press * Amazon * B&N

(affiliate link included) 

About Iris Dorbian

Iris Dorbian is a professional business and arts journalist whose credits include Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Crain's New York Business, Venture Capital Journal, Buyouts, Investopedia, DMNews, Jerusalem Report, the Forward, Playbill, Backstage, Theatermania, Live Design, Media Industry Newsletter and PR News. She is the former editor-in-chief of Stage Directions magazine and author of "Great Producers: Visionaries of the American Theater," which was published by Allworth Press/Skyhorse Publishing in August 2008; and "Sentenced to Shakespeare," which was published by Milford House Press, an imprint of Sunbury Press. Her personal essays have been published in Blue Lyra Review, B O D Y, Embodied Effigies, Jewish Literary Journal, Diverse Voices Quarterly, Adanna Literary Journal, ThisSpace.org, Skirt! and Gothesque Magazine. A New Jersey native, Iris has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.


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Iris Dorbian will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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